1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope bending control apparatus and an endoscope system for performing endoscopic examination by inserting an endoscope into a body cavity and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used to examine and diagnose inside of a body cavity or a lumen. When endoscopes are used, it is desirable that an insertion portion is smoothly inserted into a body cavity.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-93328 as a first prior art example discloses to detect a direction in which a distal end portion of an insertion portion is to be inserted, that is, a target position, based on an endoscopic image and set the direction of the target position as an insertion direction.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-116289 as a second prior art example discloses a bending control apparatus for performing bending control at the time of insertion of an endoscope by selecting a first bending control method based on an image picked up by an endoscope and a second bending control method based on a detected image of an endoscope insertion shape and a CT image.